British Columbia health officials are urging people to avoid gatherings in celebration of New Year's Eve. The request comes as the province released five days of COVID-19 figures over the holiday season, showing 2,206 new cases for a total of 50,815 infections since the pandemic began. The province also reported 74 deaths from the virus, largely among those living in long-term care or assisted-living facilities. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says people need to follow public health orders forbidding social gatherings ahead of New Year's Eve. Dr. Henry says there were lower COVID-

Quebec has become the fourth province to confirm its first case of a more contagious COVID-19 variant. Health Minister Christian Dube says the person who tested positive is a family member of someone who returned from the United Kingdom on Dec. 11. Three other provinces have confirmed cases of the new variant in recent days, with three cases in Ontario, one in Alberta and one in British Columbia. The variant was first identified in the U.K. and has since spread to several other countries. The latest case in Canada comes as Yukon Health and Social Services Minister Pauline Frost says the terri

Homicide detectives are investigating a fatal shooting in Surrey, B.C., the second deadly attack in the city in as many days.Sgt. Frank Jang with the joint-police Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the shooting happened Monday evening in the Guildford neighbourhood.The unnamed victim was found dead at the scene but few other details have been released.The shooting took place as Jang was providing more information about a Sunday night shooting in the Whalley area that killed 19-year-old Harman Singh Dhesi.Jang says Dhesi was known to police and his death and the Guildford-area shootin

More than 15,000 Canadians have now died of COVID-19. The death toll reached 15,001 this morning as Quebec reported another 2,265 infections and 37 deaths. But it is likely higher than that because Ontario did not report its latest numbers today. Quebec has reported 8,060 deaths since the start of the pandemic. The rollout of vaccines is continuing across the country, with doses of the Moderna shots due to be delivered in Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunuvut today.

Citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who was detained in May for her live stream reporting from Wuhan over COVID-19, has been sentenced to four years of imprisonment on Monday, Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) reported.She has been convicted of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" for her reporting in the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak. Dozens of her supporters and diplomats gathered outside Shanghai Pudong New District People's Court on Monday morning before the trial began, according to HKFP. The police, however, pushed journalists and observers away from the entrance. The New York Times re

British Columbia health officials are reporting the province's first knowncase of the U.K. COVID-19 variant. The affected individual returned from the U.K. on Dec. 15 to their home in the Island Health authority. The person tested positive four days later after developing symptoms during their quarantine. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a joint statement that the variant strain was detected through testing by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. They say it's important to note that although the U.K. variant can spread faster, there's no ind

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the first doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine have landed in Canada. He tweeted the news with a photo of border agents watching workers preparing to unload a Federal Express cargo plane. Health Canada authorized the use of the vaccine just yesterday, making it the second vaccine to receive the regulator's approval after the Pfizer-BioNtech offering was approved on Dec. 9. Moderna is expected to deliver 168,000 doses by the end of next week. The federal government has ordered 40 million doses overall from Moderna, enough to vaccinate 20 million Canadians. Whi

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the COVID-19 pandemic has created a holiday season nobody wanted. But in his annual Christmas message, Trudeau says there is hope for the New Year. He says everyone can agree 2020 has been tough, but Canadians have met the challenging times with generosity, kindness and hope. He says throughout 2020, neighbours have helped neighbours, kids have given up play dates to be safe, front-line workers have put themselves at risk and businesses have retooled to help in the fight against COVID-19. Trudeau says Canadians should give thanks for what unites us.

Quebec's police watchdog has completed its investigation into the New Brunswick police-involved killing of Chantel Moore, a 26-year-old Indigenous woman.The watchdog, known as the Bureau des enquetes independantes, said Wednesday it had forwarded its report to New Brunswick's Public Prosecutions Services and to the coroner in the case, on Dec. 16.Quebec's independent police watchdog investigated the case because New Brunswick does not have its own police oversight agency.Moore was shot by a member of the Edmundston Police Force during a wellness check on June 4, after the young woman had alleg